Paper Rex Wins Against EDward Gaming, Leviatán Sweeps Team Liquid at VALORANT Champions 2022 Opening Day

The start of VALORANT Champions 2022 saw some pretty interesting outcomes for Group A as Paper Rex narrowly won their matchup against EDward Gaming (EDG) while Leviatán managed to sweep Team Liquid.

Paper Rex Had A Bit Of A Challenge With EDward Gaming

Paper Rex takes the first series win of #VALORANTChampions İstanbul! pic.twitter.com/83zX7uIi8S

— VALORANT Champions Tour 🇹🇷 (@ValorantEsports) August 31, 2022

Paper Rex had a bit of a challenge with EDG as they went the distance and finished their series with a score of 2-1.

The first game of the series saw not only EDG’s first LAN appearance but also Pearl’s debut in competitive VALORANT. As Pearl was EDG’s map pick, Paper Rex struggled mightily in the first five rounds of the game. By Round 3, they were immediately met by Yongkang “ZmjjKK” Zheng’s Operator, a sign of what was to come against Paper Rex as the Chinese sniper had a higher first blood percentage than Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto by the end of the game. Despite that, Paper Rex bounced back with a 5-round win streak of their own and eventually ended the first half with a tie. They then opted for a 4-stack at mid during the second pistol round which led to a quick spray down that basically secured the round. From there, it was only a matter of back-and-forths between the two teams before Paper Rex closed the game on Round 24.

Following that close first game, Paper Rex then proceeded to get absolutely squashed by EDG in the second game at Icebox. Paper Rex played like a shell of their usual selves as EDG served them a taste of their own medicine. The opening pistol round started with an aggressive EDG push to B Site akin to what Paper Rex does on the map. After that, the first half was just not kind for the APAC squad as they finished the first half with a mere two rounds for themselves. They then tried to salvage themselves through three more round wins in the second half but it was too late to turn it around.

After that brutality, Paper Rex managed to thankfully close the third game at Haven 13-8 in their favor. The team started the game with style as they snuck their way to defuse the spike to win the opening pistol round when it should’ve been in EDG’s bag already. For a short while, Benedict “Benkai” Tan’s traps were ineffective as EDG simply avoided them for three straight rounds before his setups became the catalyst of their 5-round win streak. Paper Rex pushed EDG so hard that they forced them to take back-to-back timeouts in Rounds 8 and 9. After that, Paper Rex extended their dominance into the second half where they eventually ended the game via a Thrifty.

Leviatán Sweeps Team Liquid

.@LeviatanGG get their first series win of #VALORANTChampions İstanbul ✅ pic.twitter.com/L1l3XWwg7K

— VALORANT Champions Tour 🇹🇷 (@ValorantEsports) August 31, 2022

For the last series of the day, LATAM representatives Leviatán swept EMEA LCQ winners Team Liquid in a series that was short but was also somehow long (no thanks to the games’ scorelines).

The first game ended with a 13-10 scoreline as Leviatán managed to overcome Team Liquid in Haven. Leviatán quickly took the first five rounds for themselves as their defensive prowess was at par, if not even better, than Team Liquid’s. With the first half at 8-4 in their favor, Leviatán took the first two rounds of the second half in order to further extend their lead. However, a short miraculous defensive run by Team Liquid, led by the brothers Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom and Nabil “Nivera” Benrlitom and alongside Elias “Jamppi” Olkkonen, extended the duration of the game. Thankfully, Leviatán pulled off a hail mary as they won the final round while in eco.

The next and final game of their series at Ascent ended just like the previous game as it ended in yet another 13-10 scoreline. Both teams sported interesting agent lineups as Leviatán went with a triple initiator lineup that featured Fade, Sova, and KAY/O while Team Liquid utilized Phoenix. The battle was pretty even at this game as Leviatán would go on a 4-round win streak, followed by Team Liquid’s own 4-round win streak, and then back-to-back round wins for each team for the remainder of the first half. Eventually, Leviatán ran away with the game as they outscored Team Liquid in the second half, with some of those wins won via eco and with Stingers only.

With the results of the opening day, Paper Rex and Leviatán both move up the bracket to face each other while EDward Gaming and Team Liquid drop down to the elimination match of Group A.

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